


Foreign Affairs, Conclusion

by LtLJ



Series: Hunting Parties Series [5]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Angst, Character of Color, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-12
Updated: 2006-12-12
Packaged: 2017-10-02 23:48:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LtLJ/pseuds/LtLJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Later, John realized the deep desert tribe must have had time to get some word that the negotiation was going well. Selan's group must have gotten desperate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Foreign Affairs, Conclusion

With the Ancient site to excavate and the well to repair, they went back to Tasiben a lot.

  
"Huh." John frowned, looking out the jumper's port. "That doesn't look good."

Under the afternoon sun, the desert of Tasiben stretched out below like a dusty red-brown sea, with islands of tall wind-carved rock. The Ancient site that had contaminated the Tasiben's well was in one of the nearest rocky islands, concealed by stone and sand. Jumper Three was parked next to it, and there were a couple of tents for the combined archeology and geology team who was working here, plus a few Tasiben tents. That was the part John had expected to see.

What he hadn't expected to see was all the other tents. There was a cluster of them around this side of the outcrop, like a defense perimeter around the Atlantean camp. Well outside that perimeter, the jumper's sensors were picking up lifesigns in a scattered pattern facing the Tasiben perimeter. From Stackhouse's report, John knew they were the men of the deep desert tribe, nearly invisible from the air, concealed by sand-colored tarps and the sumptors' natural ability to blend into the ground.

Her eyes on the scene below, Teyla said, "The Tasiben are sharing our camp's water supply, but the other tribe must be bringing theirs from some distance away." She lifted her brows. "They must be very serious about this."

"I thought they stayed in small groups and kept out of sight to avoid the Wraith," Rodney said, glaring out the port in annoyance. The whole thing was impeding his access to the Ancient site, and it was pissing him off.

Teyla told him, "When Dr. Corrigan's team first arrived, they explained that the jumpers would give warning if Wraith came near the planet. Somehow the word must have passed to the other tribe."

Rodney snorted derisively. "So they don't want us to investigate their Ancient site, but they're happy to use our technology to warn them about the Wraith."

"It's not their Ancient site, it's the Tasiben's Ancient site," John said. He had a couple of ideas of what was going on with the other tribe. He didn't think it had anything to do with ownership claims on the site. He thought it was much more likely that the Tasiben were hanging out with a bunch of offworlders, and the deep desert tribe didn't like it.

Corrigan's initial report had been pretty interesting. They knew from the Tasiben that there had been a big Ancient city with some kind of university complex on the planet, and that it had been destroyed by the Wraith. The Tasiben believed they were descended from the survivors that had escaped into the desert, and there was certainly a giant crater right where their tradition said the city had been. This Ancient site was solid confirmation of that belief. Corrigan thought it was probably an original power or communications relay station for the destroyed city, concealed in order to preserve the landscape.

They were really hoping it was a power relay.

John brought the jumper down gently, in the open area near Jumper Three, stirring a small cloud of dust. Dr. Corrigan and Sergeant Stackhouse were outside waiting for them by the time the ramp lowered.

Stackhouse looked apologetic, and Corrigan said, "There's some kind of standoff going on, Major."

"Oh, you don't say." Rodney folded his arms, looking around. "It wasn't at all obvious from the air."

Corrigan gave Rodney a sour look and before he could reply, John said, "Right. Do we know why?"

Corrigan deflated a little. "I have no idea. This all seemed to come to a head within the past few days. The Tasiben just keep telling us to go ahead and do whatever we want. But when we start to dig, the deep desert tribe tries to break the perimeter. I haven't been able to get Vanrin or Telani or any of the others who speak English to tell me what the problem is."

"Vanrin won't tell you," John repeated, having trouble getting his brain around that one.

"No." Corrigan gave a glum shrug. "Everyone here's been very friendly, as always, and we haven't felt threatened -- the Tasiben won't let the deep desert tribe get close enough for us to feel threatened. But whenever I try to start a conversation about the situation they suddenly have urgent things to do elsewhere."

John traded a baffled look with Teyla. She shook her head, frowning, and said, "Perhaps the deep desert tribe does want to claim ownership of the well."

"The poisoned well?" Rodney said. "The well nobody was interested in until we showed up?"

"Yeah, that well." John asked Corrigan, "Has anybody told them that we might be able to fix it, if you can get down to where the chemical leak is?"

Corrigan spread his hands. "I have no idea. The Tasiben know, certainly, and they're excited about the idea, but I don't know what they've told the others." He shook his head, turning to look back at the rock face. "We've been able to keep our excavation under cover so far, but we're nearly to the point where we can get the doors open. They're half the size of that whole section, and when we open them, it's going to be obvious. If the other tribe reacts violently--"

"Yeah." John let out his breath. "Is Vanrin here?"

"I was trying to talk to him earlier." Corrigan pointed. "I think he's hiding from me over there in the tents."

"I'll go talk to him," John told Corrigan.

  
***

  
John made his way through the Tasiben tents, all sand-colored to blend in with the desert. He answered greetings from all the people who recognized him, which was just about everybody.

A few days after the camp had been set up, John had asked Stackhouse how things were going. "It's been fine, sir. It took a couple of days for everybody to get used to each other." Tasiben wore either nothing or next to nothing, and this had a predictably distracting effect on the Marines and scientists. But the Tasiben found people who wore clothes, especially uniforms, just as distracting. It made for an odd situation. Stackhouse added, "They're very...affectionate people."

"Right." John knew all about that. "Let's just do our best to make sure nobody gets hurt, offended, or, uh, pregnant."

"Yes, sir." Stackhouse managed to look like this was a perfectly normal order. Hell, in the SGC, maybe it was.

John's team had had to visit the camp periodically, both for John to check up on things and for Rodney to evaluate the progress on the site. On each trip, John had been able to grab a little personal time with Vanrin. The downside was that John didn't have much free time, under any circumstances, and he couldn't take the radio off and he always had to keep one eye on his watch.

And John was a little worried about some other things. Tasiben life could be hard, but now that the Isveni were gone, it didn't usually include being shot at frequently or attacked by bizarre alien animals or crazy people. The last time he was here, a couple of weeks ago, that had come up again.

They had been lying on the furs in Vanrin's tent, John sprawled on his stomach. Vanrin was a warm weight half on top of him, and he was carding his fingers through John's hair. Half asleep, John felt Vanrin's hand run up his back under his shirt, then pause when he found the new half-healed puncture wounds. John didn't say anything, hoping Vanrin wouldn't comment. But Vanrin said, "What is this?"

"That's new." John rolled his shoulders. None of the wounds were deep, but there was a lot of them and they still ached a little.

Vanrin waited for more, then prompted, "There was a battle?"

"No." John let out his breath. "I got caught, for a while. A short while. By some people. Some of them were people. Hey, when's Shinabi and the others getting here?" He really didn't want to talk about missions that went wrong, and he was getting the idea that it bothered Vanrin.

Of course, Vanrin hadn't dropped any hints that trouble was brewing with the deep desert tribe, so maybe they were even.

John reached the right tent and leaned down to call under the half-furled doorflap. "Hey, Vanrin?"

"John?" Vanrin sounded startled. He came to the door, lifting it aside, saying, "They did not say you were coming today."

"I think they wanted it to be a surprise." John stepped inside, pausing a moment for his eyes to adjust. The tent had a spot for a firepit in the center, though the fire wasn't lit at the moment. A few bundled furs and leather mats were scattered around, and the sumptor saddle bags that the Tasiben carried their possessions in on moves. As soon as John got a good look at Vanrin, even in the dim light, he knew something was wrong. "What's going on?"

"Corrigan told you of our problem." Vanrin gestured for John to sit down. He looked distinctly uncomfortable. "It is a difficult situation."

"Okay." John settled onto a mat next to the firepit, cradling the P-90 in his lap. "What exactly is the situation?"

Vanrin sat down across from him. He said reluctantly, "The deep desert tribe does not wish us to deal with offworlders."

"Okay." John bit his lip, not surprised. He didn't know what to do about that. And he really hoped that Vanrin wasn't about to tell him that they had to get the hell off the planet. "So what does that mean?"

Vanrin shrugged, adjusting one of the rocks lining the firepit. "We will have to fight them."

John stared. Okay, he hadn't been expecting that one. "Fight them? What?"

Vanrin didn't look happy, but he didn't seem particularly upset about the prospect either. "It is not pleasant, but we will not be told what to do by these people."

"So you're going to war over this?" John was still having trouble believing it.

"If you want to call it that."

"Your tribe fighting their tribe, yeah, that's what we call it. That's what everybody calls it." John gestured helplessly. "Look, we can't let you do this, not for us. We don't need this site that much. It's not that important."

Vanrin flicked a look at him. It was the first time since John had come into the tent that Vanrin had looked him in the eye. But he said, "That is not what Corrigan has said. He believes it could contain things of much importance to your people."

"He's a scientist, he has to believe that." John tried to think of a way to explain that the belief that they were about to find something wonderful at any moment was the only thing that got the science team out of bed in the morning. "He doesn't have a clue what's really in there. It could be empty. You don't want to fight these people over nothing."

Vanrin shook his head. "That is not the point. We wish to give it to you, it is our right. If they wish to stop us, that is their problem."

"If you start a war, it's everybody's problem." Vanrin's brow quirked. _Okay, so that didn't make a lot of sense, considering that we all live on different planets,_ John thought. And he knew the Ancient site really wasn't what the Tasiben wanted to fight about. "This is because these people might have known your tribe was in trouble, and didn't help."

Vanrin looked cagey. "That...is possibly a factor."

John pointed out, "You don't know it was the whole tribe. It could have just been that guy and his group. The one that found us, uh..." That part was still a little embarrassing.

"It is a possibility," Vanrin said, making minute adjustments to the rocks around the firepit again. "But they will not admit it. Which makes us believe that they were all to blame."

"Yeah." John shook his head. It still seemed like there was a way to work this out, if they could just get the other tribe to own up to what had happened, or at least explain their actions. "Look, the leader of our expedition is really experienced with negotiating between people who want to kill each other. Maybe she could convince them to tell you whether they knew about the poison or not. Or at least help you figure out why they don't want to tell you. And I don't know, maybe if they have a chance to talk to us, they won't have a problem with us investigating the site."

Vanrin shifted around reluctantly but finally said, "That is a reasonable suggestion."

John had thought that would get him. The Tasiben were big on being reasonable, even when they didn't want to be. "So you'll put off the war until we can try this?"

Vanrin admitted, "Yes, I suppose we must."

"Well, good. I'll set it up." Relieved to get that out of the way, John looked at his watch. They had settled that pretty quickly, and he could probably justify spending another twenty minutes here before he had to get moving again. He asked hopefully, "Do you want to make out?"

Vanrin didn't answer immediately. That was when John realized whatever it was that felt wrong wasn't entirely related to the conflict with the other tribe. And Vanrin was avoiding his eyes again. The moment stretched, and then Vanrin said, "I do not think that would be wise."

"Uh, you mean not wise right now, or..." If John had been back on Earth, in his old life, he would have known exactly what was about to happen.

"I mean that we should, ah...not do that again." Vanrin winced. "Or the other things that we were doing."

_Ouch_, John thought. _So...this was what it sounded like._ And this was the part where he left. He said, "Fine," pushed to his feet, and ducked out of the tent.

  
***

  
Sitting under the sun shade in the archeology tent, reading Corrigan's notes off his laptop, Rodney was startled to see Sheppard coming back from the Tasiben tents so soon. He had thought he would have at least twenty minutes to critique Corrigan's progress and take his own readings on the site's sealed doors. And Sheppard didn't even look rumpled, which was practically unheard of.

Sheppard reached the tent and, momentarily forgetting his resolve not to be an insane stalker, Rodney asked, "What, he doesn't want to play Rudolph Valentino with you anymore?"

Sheppard threw him a look that should have dropped Rodney dead on the spot. Sheppard said, "We're going to need Elizabeth to help negotiate with the other tribe. Get ready to leave."

Rodney stood up, frowning. "Okay, fine. What's the hurry? We have all day free to check on--"

Sheppard just stepped past him, ducking through the flap into the main tent, yelling for Corrigan.

Rodney didn't get a chance to corner him for a better answer. Telani, the Tasiben woman who spoke English the best, Shinabi, and several of the other Tasiben who had been coordinating the dig with Corrigan came to stand around in the tent, looking uncomfortable. Vanrin didn't appear. All the Tasiben agreed immediately to the plan to try to get the other tribe to meet with them with Elizabeth as arbitrator. They all seemed apologetic and embarrassed about something, but there was no hint of what it was. Corrigan, with apparently no idea what had happened either, was relieved and elated about the potential solution to the impasse, and Stackhouse was just relieved. Telani invited Sheppard and their team three times to stay for dinner with the women's tribe. Sheppard refused, saying they were expected back in Atlantis immediately.

Corrigan tried to say, "But doesn't diplomatic relations with allies take mission precedence when--"

Sheppard looked at him.

Corrigan cleared his throat and finished, "That is, unless you're too busy."

Then Sheppard practically threw Rodney, Teyla, and Ford into the jumper.

They didn't have a chance to talk until the jumper was back in the bay, put into its rack, and Sheppard had gone ahead to talk to Elizabeth. Teyla stopped Rodney in the access corridor and said, "Do you know what happened?"

"I have no idea," Rodney told her. He was beginning to get worried. Sheppard was doing his stoic "nothing is wrong with me" act, which was never a good sign. At least when he sulked you had half a chance of guessing that something was wrong. "He didn't say anything to you?"

"No." Teyla pressed her lips together, looking worried. "Vanrin did not come out to speak to us, and he always has before."

Rodney frowned. That couldn't be a good sign. "That's right, he didn't."

"Did you do something?" Ford asked accusingly.

Okay, that was just unfair. "Oh, for the-- Like what?" Rodney demanded, outraged.

"How would I know? I don't even know what's going on. Nobody does. In fact, nothing's going on." Ford retreated in confusion.

Rodney glared after him, still offended. Then he caught Teyla's worried expression and told her, "Don't worry, we'll get it out of him."

Teyla sighed. "That is not exactly what I had in mind. You should give him space. Remember?"

Rodney nodded. Of course he remembered. "Right, right. We'll be subtle when we get it out of him."

  
***

  
John talked to Elizabeth about the meeting, got her okay, and then had Grodin dial through to Tasiben to radio Stackhouse and let him know to start making the arrangements on their end.

The rest of the day John spent getting through his backlog of paperwork that nobody but Ford was ever going to look at, reviewed Ford's paperwork that nobody but John was ever going to look at, reviewed Bates' paperwork, ditto, and thought about the futility of life. Then he ran the security team through drills until even Bates was happy. By evening, Elizabeth radioed him to ask if there was an imminent invasion he had forgotten to notify her about, and if not, could he knock it off for the day because the gate room operations staff was getting nervous.

He went to dinner late, when most of the messhall was cleared out. As soon as he sat down at a table with a tray, Rodney and Teyla appeared. The tray made an unobtrusive escape impossible, so John rolled his eyes and poured himself a glass of water.

Rodney slammed his tray down on the table, and said, "We're eating late. Because we had things to do earlier. Both of us."

John just nodded. There was a reason that Rodney was an astrophysicist and not an undercover operative for the CIA.

"You are not eating," Teyla pointed out gently. "You do not feel well?"

"No, I'm fine. I had a big lunch." John had been poking at his food. Now that he looked, he noticed it was goatloaf and processed seaweed casserole, his favorites. He took a bite.

They all ate in silence for about thirty seconds. Then Rodney slammed his fork down, and said, "All right, what the hell happened?"

Teyla rubbed her eyes wearily. "Dr. McKay--"

John set his jaw. "Nothing happened. I'm fine. What happened in the lab this afternoon?"

Rodney replied acidly, "Nothing, the lab's fine."

John lifted a brow and poked at his food again, refusing to take the bait. "Okay, I'll put that in my report when it blows up again."

"It hasn't blown up in weeks, I--" Rodney stopped, and glared. His jaw worked, then he finally said, "If I leave, will you tell Teyla?"

_Crap._ John gave in. "Vanrin broke up with me."

Teyla stared at him, startled. Rodney frowned, saying, "What do you mean, broke up with you?"

John gave up on the food. He propped his head on his hand, hoping they could get through the humiliating part as quickly as possible. "What do you think I mean?"

Rodney stared at him for a long moment. Then he snorted in disbelief. "What, did he ask for the ring back?"

"He gave me some beads. I'm keeping those," John said before he could stop himself, and thought, _Yeah, that was it. I'm completely humiliated now._

Rodney stared some more. Then he lifted his chin and launched into a long explanation of what had gone wrong in the lab that afternoon.

Wincing, Teyla patted John's arm.

  
***

  
It took three days for the Tasiben to arrange the meeting with the other tribe. It was set for early in the morning, Tasiben-time, so John and his team brought Elizabeth in the night before, so she could meet with the Tasiben and talk the situation over with them first.

This turned out to be a way bigger deal than John thought it was going to be. He thought they would have a meeting at the base camp with the Tasiben leaders and the people acting as translators, he would see Vanrin, it wouldn't be anymore uncomfortable than his other failed relationships, and that would be it until morning when they could have the meeting with the other tribe.

It was dark as the jumper reached the camp, but John could see from the number of fires the Tasiben presence had increased dramatically. John got radio clearance from Stackhouse, who explained, "More of the women's tribe showed up last night, sir. They're sort of excited that Dr. Weir's coming."

John glanced at Elizabeth, who lifted her brows. She smiled. "Well, that's encouraging."

"Yeah." John asked Stackhouse, "You set up the perimeter?"

"Yes, sir. And we're about to put Jumper Three in the air, to keep track of the other tribe's movements."

"Copy that. Sheppard out."

Elizabeth asked, "Is something wrong, John?"

John looked over to see her studying him thoughtfully. He pretended to misunderstand her. "No, I just checked in with Stackhouse, we're clear."

Elizabeth didn't pursue it, but he could practically hear her exchanging a glance with Teyla.

John brought the jumper down in the torchlit landing area near the archeology tent. Stackhouse was waiting for them, with Corrigan, Rousseau, Baroukel, and the other members of the archeology and geology team. Stackhouse greeted them, saying, "Dr. Weir, Major. The Tasiben have set up a spot for the meeting over here."

Not far into their camp, the Tasiben had a big fire in a pit, with furs spread around it. Most of the people here were women, Shinabi and Telani and the other leaders of the female tribe, but John had expected that; it was a Tasiben courtesy to Elizabeth. Vanrin was here and John made eye contact and introduced him and Shinabi and everybody else, and everything was fine.

They all sat down around the fire, and the only problem was the same one they seemed to have at Atlantean staff meetings: everybody wanted to talk at once. The good thing was that the Tasiben women took to Elizabeth immediately. John got the impression they had been expecting her to be older, or more scary, or something. All of them wanted to talk to her at once, causing Telani, the only one who could translate, to wave her hands and yell at them. When Telani got them to be quiet long enough for her to translate, the first thing she asked was, "They want to know how many children you have?"

They had already explained to Shinabi and Vanrin that the expedition hadn't brought families. This hadn't gotten Teyla off the hook, and on their fifth visit she had apparently ended up having to explain in detail why she didn't have children yet.

"Why do they keep asking about that?" Rodney asked John.

Sitting behind them, Corrigan leaned forward to explain, "When two Tasiben tribes become allied, one of the early gestures of friendship the women make is to show each other their children. Since we don't have any to show, they're trying to compensate by talking about them."

Rodney threw him an impatient glance. "How did you know that?"

Corrigan said dryly, "I used an old anthropologist's trick: I asked."

Elizabeth was explaining, "I don't have any children, actually. Our expedition--"

"Not back on your own world?" Telani asked.

Elizabeth smiled. "No, you see, there was -- is -- a strong possibility that we would never be able to return to our home, so no one was allowed to volunteer for the expedition if he or she had any dependents, such as young children."

Vanrin looked at John, startled. "You have no children?"

"No." John wanted to keep it at that, but he had to ask, "You do?"

"Three girls." Vanrin hesitated. "I thought you all had families back on your own world."

Keeping his voice even, John said, "Dr. McKay meant the expedition in general has families on Earth. I don't."

Rodney eyed him. "What, you were raised by Yeti in Antarctica?"

John said pointedly, "You should know, you hacked my personnel file."

"Yes, but I'm not stalking you anymore," Rodney reminded him.

"The Yeti are indigenous to Tibet," Corrigan put in, just before Elizabeth leaned over to say, "Gentlemen, could you have this conversation later?"

The other women were talking and Telani managed to shush them long enough to ask Elizabeth, "You will have children in your new city?"

"Oh, well, I haven't really had the opportunity--" Elizabeth began.

Telani translated, and all the Tasiben women looked at John, as if they were thinking, _well, what are you waiting for?_ John thought that was about all the situation needed. Elizabeth managed to finish, "--and our lives are too uncertain at the moment. Your children are here? Why don't we go see them?"

John knew the tent where they were keeping the kids was safely within the camp, guarded by the Tasiben and the Atlantean perimeter. He wasn't needed there and he wanted to check all the security positions anyway, and talk to Markham up in Jumper Three. He told Teyla, Ford, and Stackhouse, "You stay with Dr. Weir. I'll be at the base tent."

They went off with the Tasiben women, and Rodney wandered off with the scientists to check on the Ancient site, or stare at the sealed doorway of the Ancient site, or whatever it was that they did. John turned to start back to the Jumper, and found himself facing Vanrin.

Vanrin said, "You are angry."

"No, I'm not." John gritted his teeth. He stepped around him, walking back through the empty tents. Away from the fire it was dark, everybody was busy elsewhere, but the last thing John wanted to do was have this conversation.

Vanrin added, devastatingly, "And hurt."

John said tightly, "No."

"That is not true."

John stopped abruptly, facing him. "What the hell do you want from me?"

Vanrin stopped, and in the dark he seemed to shift uncertainly. "Nothing."

"Yeah, I got that message."

"I do not want you to be hurt," Vanrin said, a little heat in his voice.

John said, "If you're worried about the well, we'll still fix that. Nothing's changed."

John knew that was a low blow when he took it, and from Vanrin's voice it hit the mark. Vanrin said stiffly, "I did not think you would go back on your word. I do not want to fight with you."

"We're not fighting. I told you, it's fine."

"I think we are fighting!" Vanrin snapped.

John was trying to remember how the hell he got into this. "Look, you started this, you...seduced me--"

"I do not know that word!"

"You touched my ankle!" John shouted.

"Ah, that." Vanrin looked uncomfortable, apparently realizing he did know exactly what "seduced" meant.

"Yeah, that!" At the point where he was sounding crazy even to himself, John knew it was time to stop the stupid argument. "Just forget it, all right? It's over, I'm fine with it, you're fine with it." John walked away, and this time Vanrin didn't follow him.

  
***

  
At dawn the next morning, they all went to the edge of the encampment, to wait for the representatives of the other tribe.

John stood with his team, plus Elizabeth, Stackhouse, Benson, and Ramirez. Rodney kept yawning. John had caught a couple of hours sleep in the jumper, in between checking in on the security patrols, and he was in a monumentally crappy mood.

It was the Tasiben women who were in charge of the meeting. John wasn't sure if that was just how they did things or if the women were fed up with how the men had handled the situation and had taken over. Whatever, it was Shinabi, Telani, Rani, and four others who went out to greet the small delegation from the deep desert tribe when they finally appeared out on the sandy flat.

From what Telani had said, the women would walk back with the two representatives and they could start the meeting back at the firepit seating area the Tasiben had gotten ready.

Except that didn't happen.

The little group stood out on the flat, talking. And talking. Shinabi's body language was very expressive, and John could tell she was pissed off. "Something is wrong," Teyla said, her voice resigned. "They are upset."

"Oh, fantastic," Rodney muttered.

"You know, this may have all been a delaying tactic," Elizabeth said thoughtfully.

After a moment, Vanrin asked, "What do you mean?"

She turned to him to explain, "They agree to the meeting, let us spend time setting it up, then refuse at the last moment. If that's the pattern, they'll try to postpone every meeting we set up, hoping to wait us out, knowing we can't all sit here forever."

"I see. We call that something else." Vanrin translated for the other Tasiben waiting with them. There was a dispirited mutter.

Telani turned back finally, leaving Shinabi and the others there. As she reached them, Elizabeth asked, "Is there a problem?"

"They change the arrangement," Telani told her, looking grim. "They say they will send two of their leaders to speak with us, but they want us to send two of our leaders to stay in their camp."

Elizabeth frowned. Yeah, John didn't like that either. She said, "I take it that isn't a usual condition?"

"It is not unusual, but we do not like it." Telani shook her head, turning to look at the enemy delegation again. "They pretend it is because you are offworlders, they want some extra gesture of trust. They mean to try our patience."

"They want one of your people, one of ours?" John guessed.

"Yes." Telani looked even more grim. "They asked for you."

"Me?" If they did this, John had meant to go anyway. He was still the one who had the most experience on this planet, and he wasn't sending anybody else off to be a hostage. But he was startled that they had asked for him. "What, they pointed me out?"

Telani nodded. "Yes. They know you are a leader."

"Huh." John knew he had only been close enough to the other tribe for anyone to recognize him once -- when Selan's group had stumbled on he and Vanrin. But it may just have been the way they all were standing here that led to him being pointed out. He was next to Elizabeth, the others gathered around him. "I bet they don't think we'll agree, and that they won't have to have this meeting."

Elizabeth lifted her brows. "That's a good bet. What do you think?"

John shrugged. "I think I'm going."

"I will go for our people," Vanrin said suddenly. His look at John was challenging. "There is no objection?"

John turned his head slowly, giving him a narrow look. He could feel Teyla and Rodney staring at him. Yeah, it was going to be a little awkward, but John was used to awkward. And it was the best solution. If they had to do this, John would rather do it with Vanrin, someone he knew he could trust, somebody he knew was good in a tense situation. He just said, "No objection."

  
***

  
They were taking a couple of precautions. They were fairly sure the deep desert people didn't know about the radios. As far as they were concerned, the headset would be just an odd ear ornament, so John could stay in contact with base camp. And the camp they were heading for was only a short distance away; the jumper could be there in less than thirty seconds, and that included prep and lift-off. With the cloak, it could also check on them periodically.

The deep desert tribe had specified no weapons, so John was leaving the P-90, his gun belt, knife, and tac vest behind. He thought not having the vest would make it less likely that the desert people would want to search him, and he didn't want to have to explain the radio base unit or the folding pocket knife in his jacket pocket.

As he headed for Vanrin's sumptor, Rodney and Teyla followed him, Rodney saying, "Right. You know your check-in times."

"I set up the check-in times, Rodney."

"Right." Rodney lowered his voice, glancing around to make sure that no one else was in earshot. "Ordinarily, this wouldn't worry me as much, since he'll be with you and if anyone wanted to...attack you they'd have to pry him off of you first, but now--"

John gave him a look. "Rodney, it's fine."

"You keep saying that!" Rodney shouted.

"Dr. McKay, it will be all right," Teyla said, walking up beside Rodney. She smiled at John. "But be careful."

They reached the sumptor, where Elizabeth, Shinabi, Telani, and Stackhouse were waiting. As John arrived, Vanrin looked down at them and said, "Do not worry, he will come back to you unharmed. I swear it."

John turned to Telani and said, "What he said." He grabbed the sumptor's strap and slung himself up onto the saddle.

  
***

  
The camp was in one of the giant outcrops, the tents pitched on the sand in the shelter of the tall pillars of rock. There had to be a spring or well somewhere, because plants clung in the shelter of the rock, too. There were very tiny clumps of green with yellow flowers, and something larger that looked almost like bamboo, though it had mostly died off, leaving behind piles of long stalks. John recognized it as the plant the Tasiben used as firewood.

The tribe was waiting outside the tents, most of them watching the sumptor's approach, only a few making a pretense of ignoring it.

As they rode in, John felt like he had a target on his back. These people stared. They stared a lot. The Tasiben had stared at first, too, but they gotten used to offworlders, and now seemed to take it in stride. This staring was giving John the same oppressive sensation that being under the eye of authority always did.

Vanrin drew up the sumptor in the center of camp. There was a group of men waiting there, obviously the welcoming committee. They were older men, wearing nothing but piercings and jewelry, with the tattoos that were so much cruder than the ones done by Vanrin's people. Everybody looked very uncomfortable.

Vanrin swung off the sumptor and John slid down after him. Vanrin, whose expression made it clear that they were not here to have a good time, spoke to the men for a few moments, while John tried to look neutral. John had been expecting to be greeted by thug-types like Selan's gang. These guys looked more reasonable, and maybe a little embarrassed by the situation.

Vanrin finally told John, "This is their leader, his name is Denave. He welcomes us."

"That's nice of him." John cautiously nodded to the oldest man.

Vanrin turned back to the others and spoke again. John heard his name and "Atlanteans," and something that made Denave and the others look even more uncomfortable. John suspected it included a reference to helping the Tasiben recover from the effects of the poisoned well, while certain other people sat around and did nothing.

Denave answered Vanrin, making a gesture to the camp, then nodded and walked away, the other men following him.

"Is that it?" John asked.

"There is not much else to be done." Vanrin eyed the little camp grimly. "They have invited us to share their food tonight."

"Oh, good." John looked away to conceal his expression. "Big juicy bugs."

Vanrin snorted. "I expect our camp will be just as awkwardly entertaining their people."

The sumptor sat down, tucked its head in, and went into big furry rock mode. John suspected he was going to envy it.

  
***

  
The afternoon stretched on toward evening, and being a hostage turned out to be really boring. At least so far. John and Vanrin sat around the firepit with Denave and his men, near the center of the camp. Vanrin seemed even more bored than John, and he could understand what the others were saying.

Around them, the camp went about its business, which was mostly cutting and collecting the dry bamboo-like plants, then bundling them up for transport. John thought that was possibly their original reason for being here, before they had gotten embroiled in the argument with Vanrin's tribe. It looked as if they were nearly done with the harvesting; John wondered if that would add pressure to the leadership to just drop the whole well issue. There had to be men here who just wanted to go home and get on with their lives as soon as they were finished collecting the plant.

Not too long after they arrived, Ford radioed John to say that the two deep desert representatives had arrived, and the meeting had started with Shinabi and Telani on the Tasiben side and Elizabeth and Teyla speaking for the Atlanteans. John just clicked an acknowledgement, since the deep desert tribe was still paying way too much attention to him.

John was kind of surprised it was still bothering him. It wasn't anything new; the Tasiben had stared at first too. John had been alone in their caves, badly wounded and half-conscious in the pile of furs that was Vanrin's bed, before he had known they didn't mean him any harm. When he had recovered enough to move around, he had been tacitly considered off-limits and chaperoned by Vanrin's vigilant relatives, though it hadn't stopped people from looking. But there was just a weird undercurrent here that was making the back of his neck itch.

"I wondered why you wanted to come here," Vanrin said suddenly. "To our worlds, so far away from your own. The scholars at your camp said you are a descendent of the Ancestors, the closest descendent that your people have, other than the chief warrior who sent your people here."

John rolled his eyes, wishing the scholars at his camp were a little less chatty. They hadn't been told not to talk to the Tasiben, who were refreshingly free of the crazy taboos and prejudices of some of the other low-tech cultures they had encountered. But it left John sitting here trying to come up with a better answer than _I didn't have anything better to do._ "I was asked to go, because of the gene. Before that, I didn't know about the stargates, or the Ancients, or aliens. On our planet, hardly anybody does."

Vanrin frowned. "Your world sounds like a strange place."

"Tell me about it." John looked off toward the open desert. Maybe talking was a bad idea.

"So are you sorry you came to our worlds?"

John let out his breath. Yes, talking was a bad idea. "There's a lot of things that happened here that didn't have to happen." He knew that was a lousy answer, even if it was the truth. He added, "But whatever else we did here, we found Atlantis."

Vanrin persisted, "I did not mean was it a good thing for your people, or the farmer worlds you help, like the Nevians, or for us. Was it a good thing for you?"

"Yeah, it was," John said, startled into an honest answer. "So?"

Vanrin looked away. "No reason."

John eyed him, trying to figure that one out. _Why do you care?_ he wanted to say. They should be avoiding each other, and that was a little hard to do with Vanrin following him around saying annoying things like _I don't want you to be hurt_ and asking hard questions and volunteering to be a hostage with him.

Vanrin looked around suddenly, and John sat up straight. Selan's group was walking into camp. There was about fifteen of them, and many of them were the same men John had seen with Selan on that first encounter after the sandstorm, along with a few new faces. Some of the people in the camp greeted them, but most didn't. Denave looked downright disgruntled.

Selan looked toward John and Vanrin and smiled, not in a nice way. Suddenly the weird undercurrent in the camp had a recognizable source.

_Yeah, here's the trouble,_ John thought.

  
***

  
Dinner included bugs. The light was starting to fail by that point, the sky shading from amber into dark twilight. The camp was lit by the firepit and by torches; John hoped that not being able to see what was in the bowls too well would help. At least the bugs were small and very dead.

Fortunately, there were several dishes, and one was made from plant matter that John had had before in the Tasiben camp. It wasn't good, but it wouldn't kill him or make him high. But everybody was watching them eat, so John, in the interest of intercultural relations, made himself eat a couple of bugs.

Selan's group was sitting across the fire, not mingling at all with Denave's group, or much with the rest of the camp. They were a little rowdier than the others, but nobody started any trouble. Yet.

One of the younger teenagers was helping to pass clay bowls around for the next course; when he got to them he was balancing three bowls in his hands. John reached to help him and the kid jerked back with a yelp, nearly dropping everything.

John leaned back, giving the kid room to recover and set the bowls down. He was trying not to be offended, but he felt like he needed a bell to ring. "Whatever it is, it's not contagious," he muttered, as the kid beat a retreat.

"He did not mean to be rude," Vanrin said, poking thoughtfully through the new bowl. "I told them all that if anyone touched you, I would kill him."

John choked on the last bug. "What?"

"Yes." Vanrin became very interested in the food. "I did not think you would mind."

"I wouldn't mind?" John stared at him, having trouble believing what he was hearing. "What the hell is that?"

Vanrin gave him a sideways look, apparently completely unrepentant. "These people are vulgar, they are not fit to touch you."

John spat out bug legs and wiped his mouth. "And why am I still trying to be polite when you already threatened everybody?"

"These are rhetorical questions?" Vanrin muttered.

John said, with emphasis, "Whoever touches me is none of your business."

Vanrin gave him a look that was pure frustration. He started to speak, but there was a burst of laughter from Selan's group. Then a guy got up from the fringe of the group and started toward them.

He stopped in front of John. He was big, like most of the men in the tribe, young, and trying to look tough and cocky. He said, "You like our camp, offworlder?"

John eyed him narrowly. It hadn't been beyond the realm of possibility that some of the people in this camp would speak English, or the trade language, as the Tasiben called it. But none of them had shown any sign of it until now. He was wondering if the guy had overheard them. John said, "It's nice. You might want to put in a pool."

The guy glanced back at the other group, who were all watching in silence now. "Selan does not like you, but I am not so...particular."

"Really? I couldn't tell."

Vanrin was looking up at the guy with an expression that suggested he would much rather be punching him. "What do you want, Menat?"

Menat gave him an arch look. "I think it does not concern you."

_Yeah, he overheard us,_ John thought. He really didn't need this.

The guy sat down in front of him and leaned in. Tasiben ideas of personal space were different, but this was too close by their standards too. He said, "You come to my tent."

John smiled easily, and didn't lean away. The guy wanted him to back down, look uncomfortable, get angry, something, and that was the last thing John meant to do. "That would be a big no."

Vanrin growled, "Menat, if you do not shut your mouth and leave, I am going to--"

"Vanrin." John didn't look away from Menat. He said, teeth gritted, "This is not your business."

John could feel Vanrin simmering, but he didn't say anything further. Menat smirked, and said, "Your people are strange, but I think you would be the same as any other with your legs in the air."

John held his gaze. "You know, I've had kind of a bad week, and what I'd like to do right now is beat the crap out of you, but with this whole negotiation thing we've got going, I'm just not allowed to. But after that's over, if you want to stop on by, I'll see what I can do."

Menat watched him for a moment, and evidently read John's complete sincerity. He leaned back, pushing to his feet. "Perhaps you change your mind."

"Fuck off," John said pleasantly.

Menat retreated. Selan's group shifted around and muttered, but nobody decided to come over and take another shot.

After a long moment, Vanrin said, "I know you are the chief of your warrior caste, I have seen it. If these people are too foolish to believe that, I am sure they will learn. But I do not see that as a reason why I should be silent while you are insulted."

John let his breath out slowly, and didn't answer. This was why he liked clean breaks. He liked them, but he didn't get them very often. Going through the stargate on a possibly permanent assignment to another galaxy had been the biggest clean break of all, only it hadn't turned out that way.

  
***

  
Dinner was finally over, and people were starting to retire to their tents. According to Denave, John and Vanrin were to be given space in a tent with about thirty other people, not exactly the arrangement John would have preferred.

John waited beside the sumptor while Vanrin rummaged around in his pack. The evening wind was starting to come up, cool and harsh, stirring up the sand, and John was trying not to look like he was freezing in front of the people who were wandering around naked.

"Major, this is Ford," a cautiously low voice said in John's headset. "Come in, please."

"This is Sheppard." John turned toward Vanrin, keeping his voice low, making it look as if he was speaking to him. "We're fine. What's your situation?"

"We're secure too, sir." Ford sounded relieved. "They're talking, we're watching. Sometimes they have tea."

"Lucky you. We had bugs for dinner."

"Sounds yummy, sir."

"Next check-in at dawn. Sheppard out."

"Yes sir. Ford out."

Vanrin pulled a bundle out of the saddlebag and shook it out. It was his big leather cloak. "All is well, then?"

"Yeah. It's going fine." John rubbed his arms. It would go fine if they could avoid getting killed or killing anybody else for the next twelve hours.

Vanrin pulled his cloak on, then took John's arm, starting to pull him under the cloak. "No," John said sharply, elbowing him away.

"You are cold," Vanrin said, wincing and rubbing his solar plexus.

"I'll live." John didn't want to be tempted. That was another reason why he liked clean breaks.

Vanrin sighed and looked off across the camp, mostly dark now that the fires were being put out. After a moment, he said softly, "I think I begin to understand what is going on here. It is a struggle for power, between Selan and the older leader, Denave."

"Yeah." John relaxed a little. "I don't get the impression Selan gives a crap about the well or the site, it's just an excuse."

"Yes. Perhaps I should have guessed it earlier," Vanrin admitted. "Our interactions with them had seemed odd, as if we were dealing with two different tribes, of vastly differing opinions. I had simply thought them childish and inconsistent."

"You guys don't normally have power struggles?" John said.

"It is not very common." Vanrin shrugged. "Banat was leader before me. He passed it to me when he became weary of it, as Lani gave way to Shinabi in the women's tribe. In time one of the young men will stand out more than the others, and I will give it to him." He hesitated. "Do your people have such struggles?"

"Not here." John wasn't going to try to explain Earth. "We argue, we have really long meetings to settle it. We've had some problems, but we usually work everything out."

Vanrin was still looking down at him, and in the light from the few remaining torches, John could see him frowning. John said, "What?"

Denave walked up then, calling out to them and pointing to the tent.

  
***

  
The good part was that none of Selan's gang appeared to be welcome in this particular tent. John thought that was another indication that Denave, at least, would rather the negotiation went on as planned.

Vanrin had brought his cloak and a couple of furs for a bedroll. He grabbed a spot near the banked fire with no self-consciousness whatsoever, spread out the furs, and glared at anybody who even thought about getting too close.

John sat down on the furs next to him, glad that it was almost too dark in the tent to see people staring. Keeping his voice low, he said, "I'll take the first watch."

Vanrin threw him an unreadable look. "I will do it. You did not sleep last night."

John bit back the first comment, then the second. He hadn't expected this to be so hard, and in hindsight, that was stupid. He said, "Fine," and lay down on his side, facing the fire.

"You keep saying that," Vanrin said.

John set his jaw and let that one go too. Apparently he wasn't the only one who wanted an argument.

After a moment, Vanrin pulled the cloak over him. John didn't protest. He didn't think he would be able to sleep, but at least he wouldn't have to lie here with unfriendly people staring at his ass.

But the cloak and the banked fire, and the warm body close beside him, all combined to make John drift off to sleep.

  
***

  
Sometime later, John woke slowly, becoming gradually aware that he was warm, that the furs smelled strongly of musty sumptor fur, and that someone had been rubbing the small of his back. And that a hand was now resting on his ass.

He sat up abruptly, whispering, "What the hell are you doing?"

Vanrin jerked his hand away. It was too dark to read his expression but he sound guilty. "I was waking you up."

"You don't get to wake me up like that anymore." John didn't know whether he was more angry or incredulous. "You were the one who wanted to stop!"

"I am trying!" Vanrin snapped, and pulled his cloak over his head.

John noticed the nearest people were starting to edge away. He couldn't blame them.

  
***

  
A million years later, it was morning.

It was still too early for real daylight, but people were beginning to stir, building up the fire, talking quietly, ducking outside the tent. Maybe it was just John's imagination, but everyone sounded a little more normal this morning. Despite all the tension between Denave and Selan, nothing had happened, and the negotiation couldn't go on much longer.

John sat up, rubbing his face, feeling slow and old. He was having one of those mornings where all the old injuries ached, and he could have killed somebody, preferably a Genii, for coffee. If by some miracle they were all still alive in five years, ten years, twenty years, what the hell would he do? Retirement wasn't exactly an option. He reminded himself that life expectancy in Pegasus just wasn't that long, so maybe he should worry about something a little closer to home.

Ford's last check in, whispered over the headset late last night, had said that the meeting had broken up for the evening and would resume early in the morning. John just hoped that they finished soon. He looked up to see Vanrin watching him, his expression hard to read in the dim light. "What?"

Vanrin said, "I think we must talk."

_God, no, not this conversation,_ John thought, burying his face in his hands. "Look," he said tensely, "The hostage thing was not my idea. All we have to do is get through this and I can leave Stackhouse in charge of the site. You'll never have to see me again."

"Yes, we talk," Vanrin said, more decisively. "Not here." He got to his feet, tugging on John's wrist.

_Crap._ John got to his feet reluctantly, and followed Vanrin out of the tent.

Later, John realized the deep desert tribe must have had time to get some word that the negotiation was going well. Selan's group must have gotten desperate.

John stepped out of the tent behind Vanrin, and they were suddenly surrounded, men were shouting in confusion and anger.

Somebody grabbed John from behind, pinning his arms, dragging him back through the crowd. John lost sight of Vanrin. Swearing, he hooked an ankle around the guy's leg and they both went down. John landed on top, hard, and wrenched an arm free, snapping an elbow back into the guy's face. He rolled off and shoved to his feet, yelling, "Vanrin!" He couldn't see anything for the damn crowd.

He thought he heard an answer and started toward the sound, shoving past people. Somebody grabbed his arm, dragging him back. John punched him, got knocked down by the next guy, kicked somebody and rolled to his feet again.

He realized the men surrounding him were all Selan's; most of the tribe seemed to be milling in confusion. They were over by the firepit at this point, and John dodged back and grabbed one of the bamboo-like sticks out of the nearest pile. It was longer than the Athosian fighting sticks, but it worked just as well. John popped somebody's kneecap, slammed somebody in the gut and somebody else in the head, and suddenly nobody wanted to fight him anymore.

The crowd had scattered and John finally saw Vanrin, stumbling to his feet. Selan and two others were sprawled nearby.

John reached him and Vanrin grabbed his shoulder, knotting a hand in his jacket, and spoke sharply to Denave. Denave answered hurriedly. John said, "You okay? What--"

Vanrin pulled him back toward the tents. "Yes, Denave has said he will allow the negotiation to go on."

"Allow it to go on?" John said, incredulous. "What the hell is--"

Vanrin tugged him into the first empty tent. It was dark and close, lit only by a small fire in the center pit. Vanrin pulled John into his arms, slid a hand into his hair, finding his mouth, the kiss hard and desperate. John twisted away, confused and still pissed off from the fight. "Wait, what--"

Then Vanrin fell on top of him. Startled, with no chance to brace himself, John's foot caught on a fur and he collapsed. Vanrin landed hard, his weight flattening John into the sand. "Vanrin, dammit--"

"That was an accident," Vanrin said, breathlessly, burying his face in John's neck. "I am not feeling well."

_Oh, no._ John went cold. He ran his hands over Vanrin's back and sides, as far as he could reach. On Vanrin's lower back, on his right side, he felt something wet. John held up his hand, saw his fingers were dark with blood. "He had a knife?"

Vanrin sounded woozy. "He hit me. I did not think--" Then John's fingers found the puncture wound. "Oh, perhaps he did."

John swore and keyed his headset. "Ford, this is Sheppard. Get a jumper here, now!"

Ford's voice replied immediately, "Yes, sir! What's your situation, sir?"

"I'm clear for the moment, just get the damn jumper here." John rolled Vanrin off onto his side. He sat up, swearing again as he saw the amount of blood. "Have the gate unit dial base and tell them I'm coming in with a medical emergency."

Elizabeth's voice broke in, "John, what's happened?"

"There was a fight and Vanrin was stabbed." John ripped his jacket off, folded the material into a pad and pressed it over the wound. Vanrin was passing out, his eyes rolling back in his head. "Better tell the Tasiben."

Elizabeth said quickly, "Yes, I'll take care of it."

Ford's voice broke in, "Sir, they're dialing base and alerting Dr. Beckett. Jumper's ETA is twenty seconds--"

From outside the tent, John heard the whoosh-thump of a jumper making a hard landing. He yelled, "In here!"

The door flap was flung aside and Stackhouse, Teyla, and three Marines burst in, P-90s ready. "Get a stretcher," John snapped.

Stackhouse ducked back out of the tent, yelling orders. Teyla dropped to her knees, tearing open a pocket on her vest and pulling out a pressure bandage. She threw him an urgent look. "John, are you hurt as well?"

"What?" John realized he had blood all over his hands, down the front of his shirt. "No."

Two of the Marines came back in with the stretcher, Rodney charging in after them. "What the hell happened?" Rodney demanded, wide-eyed at all the blood, sounding angry. "They jumped you? Are you all right? Were you stabbed?"

That was too many questions. John just shook his head, helping Teyla get the pressure bandage on. When it was in place, John scrambled out of the way, getting to his feet, and the Marines started to get Vanrin onto the stretcher.

John stepped out of the tent. The jumper was planted right in the middle of the camp, ramp open, Marines fanned out around it to make a perimeter. The entire tribe had vanished, either into the tents or the rocks, except for Denave, standing near the firepit with his arms folded, and three of Selan's men. They were lying injured on the ground, casualties of the fight with John. One was Menat. John turned to Rodney, who had followed him out of the tent, and said, "Give me your sidearm."

Behind him, Stackhouse's face went blank. Confused, Rodney handed the pistol over, then said, "Whoa, wait, what are you--"

John checked the pistol automatically and took long strides over to Menat. He leaned over him and showed him the gun. "Do you know what this is?"

"Yes," Menat said. He kept his face mostly calm.

John said, "If Vanrin dies, tell Selan I'm coming back for him."

Menat nodded. John started back to the jumper. Denave said something, but John shook his head. He didn't fucking have time to deal with the guy, and if he had this little control over his own people, talking to him was pointless anyway. The Marines were carrying Vanrin's stretcher out of the tent, Teyla hurriedly following. He handed the pistol back to Rodney, who still looked confused. Stackhouse just looked relieved.

John helped them get it loaded, then ordered the Marines on guard to fall back into the jumper. He went up to the cockpit where Markham scrambled out of the pilot's seat without being told. John sat down, closed the ramp, and lifted off.

  
***

  
Within a short time, they were in Atlantis and down to the medlab level. Beckett and the trauma team took Vanrin back into the infirmary, and the head nurse Nancy threw Rodney and Teyla back out into the hall. This left John in the outer area of the medlab, fending off medical personnel who were sure he must be hurt. His headset came on, Peter Grodin's voice saying, "Major, I have a report from Lieutenant Ford. He says everything is secure at the camp, and Dr. Weir is preparing to return to Atlantis with some of the Tasiben."

John said automatically, "Copy that. Tell Ford we'll keep him apprised."

Dr. Biro, standing in front of John with one of the handheld Ancient scanners, told the hovering medical staff, "It's all right, he's fine." She added, "Major, you'd better wash that blood off before they get here. Harpreet, send someone to the Major's quarters for a clean shirt."

"Yeah, in a minute." John knew Beckett would have an idea of how bad it was pretty quickly.

He just stood there, he wasn't sure how long, taking reports from the planet and listening to the radio traffic. Grodin had kept the channel open, and John could hear him telling someone, "Yes, it's the Tasiben man who saved the Major's life a few months ago. They were attacked, apparently. No, I haven't heard--"

Then Biro touched her headset and John knew Beckett was talking to her on the closed medical channel. Before he could hit the command override to listen in, she flashed him a thumb's up. "Didn't hit the kidney," she reported. "Dr. Beckett says you've had worse on your day off."

"Okay." John kept his expression controlled, just let the relief roll over him. He got back on his headset, passing the information along to Grodin, telling him to relay it to Elizabeth and the Tasiben.

Feeling numb and tired, John went out and sat on the benches in the hallway with Rodney and Teyla. After some persistent questions from Rodney, he explained what had happened. Hearing about the factions, and Denave's lack of control over his tribe, Teyla rolled her eyes. "It does not surprise me," she said dryly. "The two women we spoke to seemed reluctant to commit themselves on any point."

"So this was all for nothing?" Rodney gestured in helpless frustration. John just shook his head.

Elizabeth arrived then, with Shinabi, Telani, and Rani, all very upset. John explained what had happened again, and Shinabi tried to declare immediate war on the deep desert people, and had to be talked down by Telani and Elizabeth. Rani just sat next to John, holding his hand and looking worried.

Harpreet came out twice with updates, the first time to repeat that Vanrin was going to be all right, and to say that Beckett would be out in a short while, and the second to tell them that Vanrin was being moved into recovery. Then Beckett appeared, saying, "Major, he's asking for you." He saw the Tasiben and added, "Oh, my. I didn't realize all the ladies were here."

John went into the infirmary, as Beckett was explaining in detail about Vanrin's condition.

Vanrin was in one of the back recovery bays, which had a bigger bed, a window looking out toward the south pier, and was away from the noise of the main ward. John had been in this one himself. The window was normally kept opaque, but somebody had told the crystal to turn transparent, dimming it a little to keep out the glare of the afternoon sun.

Vanrin was looking toward the window, his skin ashen from blood loss. He looked like he was in that mostly-awake-but-not-really state that John was familiar with from his own experiences. He was hooked up to an IV, which a nurse was checking carefully. John stepped between the screens and said, "Hi."

Vanrin turned his head toward him, holding out his hand and saying vaguely, "There you are."

The nurse smiled and retreated, and John went to the bed. "How's it going?"

Vanrin smiled at him, taking his hand. "I thought your city would be made of stone. It is lovely. It looks like you."

"Yeah, that's the morphine talking." Vanrin tugged at his hand, and John perched gingerly on the edge of the bed, trying not to jostle it. Vanrin had had a close call, all for nothing, all for Selan's greed and Denave's incompetence, and John could still feel the edge of panic and rage. He put it aside to deal with later and just said, "So they told you you're going to be okay, right?"

"Yes." Vanrin moved his thumb over the back of John's hand. "You are too stubborn."

John nodded. "We established that a while ago."

"I knew that if I asked you directly, you would not tell me."

That sounded like the morphine talking too, but John said, "Wouldn't tell you what?"

But Vanrin was drifting off.

  
***

  
They didn't get a chance to finish the conversation until four days later. John had been visiting a lot, in between ferrying Tasiben visitors back and forth to the planet, overseeing security there, and taking Rodney back out to the Ancient site. Shinabi, Telani, Elizabeth, and Teyla had used the incident to force the deep desert tribe into a number of concessions, one of which was letting the science team go ahead with the excavation and open the doors of the installation. So far, the science team had found some useful components, but it was going slowly. Some rock collapses inside the building had to be cleared, and it was looking less likely that they would find a ZPM.

Beckett was letting Vanrin walk around a little as long as he didn't get near the stairs, and had talked him into wearing scrubs. Beckett had, in fact, talked all the visiting Tasiben into wearing scrubs, by hinting vaguely that there was some sort of taboo concerning being naked in the medlab. He had told John, "It is unsanitary, you know, and frankly when the ladies are here I can't take that much distraction."

And Vanrin hadn't lacked for company, even when John and the Tasiben couldn't be here. "He's very charming," one of the nurses had told John. "Yeah, he is," John had replied ruefully.

Today, Vanrin was feeling better, and John took him a little further afield, out to one of the balcony-lounges along the corridor. The doors slid open for them and they walked out into the breeze, the sound of the sea washing against the city's feet hundreds of yards below, and the sun glinting off the glass and metal.

John had been pretty good at avoiding talking about anything except what was going on on the planet, and points of interest in the city. He said, "When Beckett okays it, we can go down to one of the piers, right near the water. The North Pier even has a pool." Vanrin had never seen an open body of water that wasn't manmade, and found the sea an endless source of fascination.

But today, Vanrin was watching him instead of the water. He said, "There was a thing I should have asked you."

"Yeah." John leaned on the railing, reluctantly bracing himself. He had no idea what this was going to be about. "You said something about that. What was the question?"

Vanrin was still watching him carefully. "That if it was known that we were together, would you be punished."

"What? Punished?" John stared at him, caught completely by surprise. He had told Vanrin about Chaya, and the stink that had caused, but that was a big leap from "everybody was pissed off" to "punished." It was a leap he didn't think a Tasiben would make. They didn't have any concept of the idea that you could be punished for who you slept with, or that anybody had any say about it except you. He demanded, "Who told you this?"

Vanrin got evasive. "A few of the others had expressed concern that your people have helped us a great deal, for no other reason than that we treated you and the Nevians as civilized people should always treat one another. And that the only thing that your people required was that you remain untouched, and my people knew that I was not honoring that."

John shook his head, incredulous. "That's my problem, not yours. And it's more complicated than just that. Your people aren't a security risk, anymore than the Athosians are, you've proved that to everybody here."

Vanrin gave him a look. "When I am the one who is causing you to break your vows, it is my problem too."

"I don't have vows," John corrected impatiently. "Look, we have to have rules because of our situation here, but we're starting to re-evaluate that. It doesn't look like we're getting home anytime soon, and it's just not practical to--"

Vanrin shrugged a little, still eyeing him. "We were told your military caste has different rules."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." It was beginning to dawn on John that somebody had been stupid enough to try to explain "don't ask, don't tell" to the Tasiben. And whoever it was had made a fricking mess of it. Not Corrigan; John had sat through his speech on cross-cultural contamination enough times to know Corrigan wouldn't make this mistake. Not anybody else on the Archeology team either, or the Marines on Stackhouse's team. For one thing, they were all SGC, they had more off-planet experience than John did. For another, there was the fact that there were more rumors about Stackhouse and Markham than there were about anything John had ever done; their team would be the last ones to talk. That left the geology team as the most likely culprits. "Told by who?" he said tightly.

Vanrin refused to snitch. He said vaguely, "I forget who it was."

John would just have to find out later. He was remembering how Vanrin had said _I don't want you to be hurt_ and how maybe he had meant that literally. If the Tasiben had gotten the idea that John could lose his rank, be physically punished... "Vanrin, those rules-- Those are Earth rules. The only person here with the authority to enforce them is me."

Vanrin hesitated. "What about Dr. Weir?"

"Dr. Weir doesn't believe in those rules, on Earth or here. You can ask her. Or Shinabi could ask her." That was going to be an interesting conversation. When it happened, John resolved to be doing something really important in a section of the city where the comm system didn't work.

For a long moment, Vanrin watched John, looking thoughtful. Then he smiled. "I will speak to Shinabi. Perhaps this will resolve the problem."

John frowned. "Resolve which problem?"

"All of them."

A nurse came to call them back to the infirmary at that point, and there wasn't anymore time to talk privately.

  
***

  
But that exchange ended up leading to the most awkward personal conversation in the history of John and Elizabeth's awkward personal conversations.

They were back on Tasiben. Shinabi had sent word through Stackhouse that she wanted to talk to Elizabeth again, saying she had an offer for a final settlement from the deep desert people.

John had already cleared up one mystery. He had told Corrigan only that somebody had attempted to explain "don't ask, don't tell" to the Tasiben, causing the Tasiben to draw some erroneous conclusions. Corrigan had gone ballistic and apparently, in a fit of rage worthy of Rodney, had forced two young geology team members into almost tearful confession. "We didn't mean to!" one of them had protested. "The Tasiben asked leading questions!"

"Oh, it's the _natives'_ fault, is it," Corrigan had snarled furiously. "Because you can't follow simple guidelines--"

After that, John had been inclined to be merciful but Corrigan, still mad, had vetoed that. The two team members were both banned from the planet until they completed an alien culture sensitivity seminar with both archeology and linguistics.

Now, while they waited for Elizabeth to finish her meeting, Rodney was down in the Ancient building with the rest of the team, and John was hanging around the science team tent with Teyla. The science team had managed to get down to the level of the site where the leak into the well had occurred, and prospects for repairing it looked good. Occasionally they could hear Rodney shouting at the archeologists over the headset, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then Teyla said tentatively, "I did not see Vanrin when we arrived."

John shrugged, pretending to find a dust speck on his P-90. "He's probably resting." Released by Beckett, Vanrin had been back here for a week, but he hadn't come out with the others to meet them when John and his team had arrived with Elizabeth.

It had helped to realize that Vanrin had done what he had done for what he thought was John's own good. It was a hell of a lot better than all the usual reasons for getting dumped. But maybe Vanrin had decided it was for the best after all.

Then Elizabeth stepped into the tent. She said briskly, "John, can I speak to you in private?"

John exchanged a look with Teyla, who lifted her brows and shrugged slightly to show she didn't know what it was about either. "Uh, sure."

Privacy wasn't available in the tent so they headed for Jumper One where it was parked out in the center of camp. John saw Shinabi, Telani, Rani, and half a dozen other Tasiben women waiting beside the tents, watching anxiously. He waved. They all waved back.

They reached the jumper and went up into cockpit, and Elizabeth surprised John by closing the compartment door. She cleared her throat, sat down, and said, "Shinabi has managed to force the deep desert tribe to agree to our continued presence here, and the Tasiben's complete control over the site."

"That's good," John said cautiously, sitting down in the pilot's seat.

Elizabeth nodded. "They'll agree to this if we establish an alliance with the Tasiben."

"Okay. Don't we have an alliance with the Tasiben?" John felt he was missing something here.

Elizabeth laced her fingers together, the way she did at the conference table when she was about to explain something complicated. "When they say 'alliance' they're referring to a concept that we don't have an equivalent for. What they mean is closer to what we'd call a marriage."

Now John was just confused. "I didn't think they had marriage."

"They don't, not really. This is literally a joining of tribes."

John was still confused. "They want to marry us?"

"They want to marry you." Elizabeth took a deep breath, and plunged in, "It's a joining of tribes as symbolized by a joining of two individuals. The other individual they suggested was Vanrin. In a ceremony held in the caves, you would formally join their tribe, which would make our expedition a sort of co-tribe to theirs. The deep desert people would then have no basis for disputing our excavation of the site."

John said, "Uh."

"They understand that you couldn't stay with them, that's not a consideration. It's symbolic, so--" Elizabeth shook her head, wincing in desperate embarrassment. "John, you're going to have to give me some sort of signal here that you're not appalled, or I can't continue. Something. Even a nod."

John, still floored, managed a nod.

"All right, then." Elizabeth forged on, now staring at the control panel to one side of John's head. "Telani explained what it would entail, and I wouldn't suggest this to you except for the implication... My understanding is that... That this would actually be an acknowledgement of a fait accompli, as it were. I'm assuming that's the case. You don't have to nod."

John tried to get his brain around this. "Does Vanrin know about this or--"

"It was his idea. There was some delay, apparently they had to get a consensus from the other Tasiben already at the caves, and they had to get the deep desert tribe to agree that this would settle their dispute. It's traditional that the initial offer be made from female tribe leader to female tribe leader. And--" Elizabeth appeared to be having some sort of trouble controlling her expression. "And if we accept their proposal, you and Vanrin aren't allowed to see each other until the ceremony."

John's brow furrowed. "Would I have to get anything pierced? Or tattooed? Because--"

"No, no. That occurred to me too, so I asked, and, ah, no."

John bit his lip. "Okay."

Elizabeth lifted her brows. "And that would mean...?"

"Okay, yes."

"All right." Elizabeth pushed her hair back, apparently relieved this was over. "I think they wanted to do this in a week or so, once the group here returns to their main cave. It's the time of the year when their male and female tribes meet there for their traditional yearly...meeting." She hesitated. "Is that going to be...?"

John nodded again. "Sure."

"We'll just call this a ceremony of alliance. I don't think anyone else needs to know any details. Everyone knows that the Tasiben hold you in high regard, so I don't think anyone will think it odd that the ceremony focuses on you." Elizabeth nodded briskly and they stared at each other for a while. Then Elizabeth got up and left.

John sat there for a while longer, stunned. He really hadn't been expecting this.

  
***

  
Rodney found Sheppard wandering vaguely around the science camp and dragged him into Jumper Three, kicked two of Corrigan's assistants out, and demanded, "You're getting married? How the hell does that work?"

"Yeah." Sheppard nodded earnestly. "I'll miss you guys, and good luck with that whole Wraith thing."

Rodney set his jaw and glared, forced to admit he did know just how it worked. Elizabeth had taken Teyla and him aside to explain the ritual, since they had been invited by the Tasiben to represent the expedition. He said, "All right, fine, you're having a ceremony of alliance."

"We're having it. You and Teyla are invited."

"Yes, I know, another lovely bug dinner." Rodney folded his arms, eyeing him. "So am I your best man?"

Sheppard scratched his head, looking thoughtful. "I was going to ask Teyla."

"What, and deny her the opportunity to be your bridesmaid?" Rodney hesitated. "So..."

"So this is weird," Sheppard admitted.

"That's one way of putting it." But Rodney had to admit, aside from seeming shocked, Sheppard looked happy. This wasn't unusual. Aside from the occasional invasion, plague outbreak, failed mission, or Wraith attack, Sheppard was one of the few people on the expedition who seemed genuinely okay with the fact that they were trapped in another galaxy. But these past few weeks, though it was hard to tell under the stoic acceptance, he hadn't been happy. Now he was again, and if it took this stupid alien alliance-marriage ritual to do it, then that's what it took. Rodney said, "Fine. But I'm not getting you a gift," and stamped out of the jumper.

  
***

  
The ceremony was held in the caves a short distance from the stargate, the main meeting place of the tribes. The Tasiben were already gathered there by the time John, Elizabeth, Teyla, and Rodney arrived in the jumper.

Vanrin met them at the entrance with Shinabi and some of the other leaders, and it was all very formal. As they headed down the main passage, he dropped back to walk with John, saying, low-voiced, "This is acceptable?"

John cleared his throat. "Uh, yes." He was starting to feel very self-conscious.

Teyla, walking on John's other side, said softly, "From what I understand, it is traditional for participants in the Earth version of this ceremony to be very nervous at this point."

"Uh, yes," John said again, and caught Vanrin hiding a smile.

The big central cavern area they went to was high-ceilinged and huge. John hadn't seen this part of the caves when he had stayed here before, since it was apparently considered too big to use unless both tribes were present. It was also full with both the male and female tribes, with multiple firepits and torches providing light and warmth, and people playing drums in the back.

"Well, this is a boring orgy," Rodney muttered, then added, "Ow!" when Teyla slapped him in the back of the head. "Elizabeth--"

"Teyla, please feel free to hit Dr. McKay whenever you feel it necessary," Elizabeth said through her teeth, nodding to the Tasiben women who were coming to greet her.

There were a couple of ceremonial speeches, but other than that it went along pretty much like a normal dinner with the Tasiben. Until sunset, when Elizabeth had a whispered conversation with Telani, then leaned over to John and said, "Well, we'll be going now," and awkwardly patted his knee.

Teyla smiled. "Congratulations."

Rodney just glared at him and said, "You at least owe us a cake."

They left, and not too long after that was when things got rowdy.

A lot of the older people and all the kids had already left. Later John remembered that someone had handed him a cup, of what he thought was water. It tasted heavily of minerals, as if it had come from the springs deep in the cave. The aftertaste and the kick told him there was something else besides water in it. Vanrin saw it and asked, "Did you drink that?"

Coughing, John gasped, "What is it?"

Vanrin took it away from him. "It is a liquor, made from the sumptor's--"

"That was a rhetorical question," John said, feeling his head start to swim.

He ended up lying on the mat by the fire, laughing helplessly, but so was just about everyone else. There was a period where everything was a blur. He remembering being pulled into Vanrin's lap and kissing like he had to do it to get oxygen. Later the women wanted to draw the tribal symbols on his hands in red pigment, which seemed like such a fantastic idea that he let them draw on his stomach, too. This turned out to be a big hit, because up to that moment nobody but Vanrin had seen that much of John's bare skin. John also remembered making out a little with Rani at this point. He was pretty certain it was Rani; faces were starting to blur but he would recognize those breasts anywhere.

John was just starting to come down when Vanrin dragged him out of the main cave and up to one of the look-out points high in the wall. A crack had made a window in the rock, open to the night sky and the stark rocky landscape, the cold wind streaming in. John leaned on the opening, with Vanrin holding him with an arm around his waist to keep him from falling out. John took deep breaths and after a time felt his head clear a little. He said hoarsely, "Thanks, I needed that."

"I could tell." Vanrin sounded vastly amused. He tugged John back against him. "I did not think you wanted to fall asleep yet."

John snorted. "Not really."

As soon as they were down the passage, out of the wind, Vanrin pushed John against the wall, hands under his shirt. John pulled his head down and kissed him hard, biting his lower lip, and everything went abruptly from teasing to urgent.

Vanrin pinned John more firmly against the wall, pulled his pants open, squeezed his ass through his boxers, then pushed the fabric down over his hip. His palm smoothed down John's side and he said, "I want to be inside you."

"In my pocket," John said, which made more sense than it sounded. They hadn't done this before, but they had had a conversation about it, not long after they had started spending all John's free time in Vanrin's tent. Vanrin had been nuzzling in the area of John's belly button. With the hand that had been cupping his balls, he brushed a knuckle gently further back. "Your people do this?"

John had taken a sharp breath. "Oh yeah, we do that. But--"

Vanrin had pressed a kiss on John's hip and said indulgently, "But there is some absurd rule concerning it."

"Well, yeah." After John had explained condoms, and convinced Vanrin he wasn't making it up, Vanrin had said, "So if we want to be inside each other, we must wear these things, but it was all right when I put my tongue down there?"

"I was asleep when you decided to put your tongue down there," John had reminded him. But for tonight John had brought some supplies from the medlab's "no questions asked" box.

They ended up back in the pile of furs on Vanrin's terrace, the drums and the noise from the party still echoing through the cave. From the other sounds John had heard as they had climbed up here through the sleeping area, John knew they weren't the only ones with this in mind.

They got through the condom part, with Vanrin's only comment, "This is not as uncomfortable as I had imagined."

Still a little high and desperately hard, John said, "You talk too much."

"Coming from one of your people--" Vanrin began.

"If you shut up and fuck me, I'll give you a blow job later," John said, and that worked. Tasiben thought oral sex was very risque and apparently something only for special occasions.

John rolled onto his stomach and Vanrin shifted on top of him, a warm solid weight, nudging his legs apart. He found the right spot unerringly, until John, relaxed and ready right now, shuddered and growled, "Come on, dammit."

Vanrin laughed, shifted his hand and his weight. When he pushed in, John took a deep breath, making himself relax against that first burn, stilling that impulse to resist that he always got at this moment, no matter how much he wanted it. Vanrin took John's hand where it was knotted in the fur, lacing their fingers together, coaxing him to relax. "You are always too quiet," Vanrin said in his ear, moving slowly. "You try not to betray yourself even when you are safe."

John bit his lip, not having an answer for that one.

Vanrin made it slow and deliberate, building right up to the edge, biting the back of John's neck, his hand in John's hair. John rode that edge as long as he could, until he thought he was going to die or fall over. He came hard, stunned with sensation, barely feeling the last hard thrusts as Vanrin shuddered into release.

Vanrin shifted off him with a groan and pulled John against his chest. Drifting off, John threw an arm around his waist, and mumbled, "Don't let me sleep too long. For once, I've got the whole night off."

Vanrin laughed in his ear. "We will make good use of it."

  
***

  
It was morning and freezing cold, and Rodney found out somebody had to formally complete the ritual by retrieving Sheppard, and apparently he was elected. He didn't find this out until Elizabeth shoved him out of the jumper at dawn, saying, "Just go in and get John."

Since the Tasiben leadership would be coming back to the excavation site with them anyway and they had already changed the stupid ritual a half dozen times to suit everyone's convenience, Rodney didn't see why they couldn't just have breakfast and wait for Sheppard to wander out on his own. He said so, pointedly. Elizabeth responded by closing the ramp.

"Fine," Rodney muttered, stamping down the path between the rocks.

The guards at the entrance, huddled around a fire, just waved him on in. He had thought somebody would escort him, but apparently the "joining of the tribes" benefits included the right to wander around helplessly lost in the pitch dark caves. Except for the occasional torch or fire in a rock hearth, and, granted, people sleeping everywhere, it looked exactly like a place where you could be attacked by large alien fauna. But by saying, "Sheppard?" to every conscious person he encountered, Rodney got pointed along the way. He ended up in a shadowy cave on a rough walkway below a terrace. He couldn't see anything in the dim flickering light, but the last pointer had seemed pretty certain this was it, so he said, "Major, are you up there?"

"Rodney."

"Yes?" It was something of a relief to hear Sheppard's voice.

"Not so loud."

"Why?" Rodney lowered his voice. "Sorry, why?"

"Everybody's hung over."

"Oh." Rodney folded his arms, disgruntled.

He heard sleepy voices and a lot of rustling, then finally Sheppard came down the rough path from the terrace, carrying his boots and jacket.

He sat down with an "oof" and started to wrestle his boots on. He squinted up at Rodney. "How's it going?"

"Oh, lovely. I just got kicked out of a warm jumper to walk through a dark cold cave so I could drag Atlantis' military commander, who also happens to be my team leader, out of a barbaric orgy held to celebrate his arranged marriage."

John grinned up at him. Rodney's jaw dropped, and he said, "There was actually an orgy?"

"No, no. I don't know," Sheppard admitted. "I was high during that part."

Rodney rolled his eyes and offered Sheppard a hand up. "Oh, fine. But next time, I get to attend the barbaric orgy."

  
**end**

**Author's Note:**

> Art by Pentapus

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Foreign Affairs, Conclusion and Afterward [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1864068) by [librarychick_94](https://archiveofourown.org/users/librarychick_94/pseuds/librarychick_94)




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